


Safe and Sound

by NekoAliceYamiYaoi



Series: It's not where you come from (It's where you belong) [8]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, I'm so sorry for this, M/M, Temporary Character Death, This Is Sad, and the first half of the second chapter will be, crying and coping, it gets better in the second chapter, married thiam, nolan is thiam's adopted kid, the second chapter will make you cry but for different reasons, well at least the first chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-02-02 11:11:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12725517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoAliceYamiYaoi/pseuds/NekoAliceYamiYaoi
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple fight against a creature which neither of them ever heard about. They had faced unidentified creatures before, and sometimes it would take a lot of effort before they all could walk back home and rest before another thing threatened Beacon Hills. It was supposed to be a simple fight and everyone was supposed to go back home.But don't you hate it when the world is a bitch and decides to bring you down?





	1. Be Still

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is for Kaylee who said: "You should do one where theo is very close to death and have liam tell nolan how strong and beautiful his papa is and then have a reunion with the 3 of them."  
> Okay, I know you said "close to death", but don't worry. There's gonna be a second chapter! Also you made me cry while writing this, I hope you're happy!

It was supposed to be a simple fight against a creature which neither of them ever heard about. They had faced unidentified creatures before, and sometimes it would take a lot of effort before they all could walk back home and rest before another thing threatened Beacon Hills. It was supposed to be a simple fight and everyone was supposed to go back home.

But don't you hate it when the world is a bitch and decides to bring you down?

 

* * *

 

They were fighting against that creature that came out of nowhere: two feet tall, bulky, monstrous, looking like someone tore away his skin and only the muscles could be seen. Disgusting at sight. It had long claws that apparently could secrete some kind of venom, so they had to be careful not to be clawed. Sure, most of them could heal, but they weren't sure how dangerous the venom was and they were not gonna risk it.

Scott, Malia, Lydia and Stiles were apparently at the other side of the preserve, fighting against the creatures this creatures created because of course that thing could create some kind of minions -little but still dangerous- by tearing off his limbs. And that limb would grow back up. Just great.

Mason and Corey were over Mason's house, taking care of Nolan while the rest were fighting the creature. All Liam wanted was go home with his husband and cuddle with his son, watching a movie and enjoying the warmth of his family.

While the others were fighting the mini-creatures, Theo, Derek, Peter and him were fighting the actual creature. And even with three werewolves and a chimera, that thing was too much for them. It snarled at them, clawing in their direction and making them take a step back, avoiding its claws.

Soon, Derek managed to grab one of the creature's arms while Theo held the other. Peter, eyes glowing blue, ran towards the creature and landed a good punch over its chest, then he started using his claws, blood staining them. The creature used his strength and managed to throw away Derek and Theo, and with his arms free, it sucker punched Peter. The older werewolf was sent flying across the trees, landing on the ground with a 'thud'. Derek growled at the creature and ran to it once again, which only got him with a broken arm and the same thing as Peter. The Evolved wolf fell against tree.

Liam growled at the creature, giving time to Theo to back away before the creature tries to do the same than with Derek. Soon they're standing beside the other, shoulders brushing.

"We should try something else." Liam said, not taking his eyes off the creature.

"What, don't like our plan of getting tossed to the ground by the big guy?" Theo asked with his typical smirk.

"Not now, Theo!"

The creature snarled again. Long and sharp teeth showing as that sound left its mouth, claws at each side of his body. Theo and Liam quickly settled in position, and after exchanging a look they both nodded and ran to opposite ways. The creature tried to look at both of them but couldn't, so it decided to just target one. His eyes fell over Liam and the beta mentally grinned. Perfect.

As he had the creature's attention, Theo ran after the creature's back, jumping over it and impaling his claws into the hideous skin; but the creature just snarled in pain but didn't attempted to remove Theo from his back. Instead, it started making its way towards Liam, the chimera still over his back and Liam froze. Panic filled his head for a few seconds.

"Liam, move!"

That shook the beta out of his trance in time for him to dodge the attack; he landed on his hands and knees over the ground, but before he could even get up, a powerful kick over his stomach sent him flying.

He landed just like Peter had minutes ago and unfortunately his head landed first. A scorching pain over his stomach made him cough as he rolled over the ground until he settled on his front, his head over the cold ground and dried leafs of the woods.

_"Liam!"_ he heard Theo yell, worry lacing his voice.

The chimera, furious, raised his hand to claw at the creature's neck, taking a big chunk of meat from the creature's throat; blood splattered to the ground and stained the chimera's hands. The creature tried to snarl one more time but it only made more blood pour out and in seconds it fell to the ground unmoving.

The chimera had managed to jump off its back before the creature fell to the ground. He glared at the creature for a moment before he turned his head to see Liam getting up on his feet. The beta seemed to be fine; he's had worst. Theo sent him a smile that made his heart flutter and Liam smiled back at his mate and for a moment he thinks that this is over. That they can go back home and rest for tonight.

But then he hears it. Lydia screaming -a piercing heartbreaking scream, echoing through all the preserve- and his heart stops for a moment, dread filling his mind because he knows what Lydia's screams mean.

An omen of death.

Liam instinct makes him secure all of his friends, his pack, because any of them could be in danger. He turns to where Derek and Peter are and finds the Evolved wolf trying to help Peter to get up on his feet. His broken arm is healed by now, and Peter struggles a little to open his eyes but he manages to do it.

Knowing that those two are fine, he turns around to face the front and sees Theo still standing in the same place he was and for a moment he let out a relieved breathe at seeing his mate fine but moments later the creature is back on its feet. It happens too fast; its hand claws right into the chimera's middle and goes right through him and Liam's heart stops again.

_"THEO!"_

Theo feels the long claws inside his body like molten metal, the pain even worse than when he used to have those nightmares in where Tara took out his heart, his eyes closing at the impact and not even a scream of pain leaving his mouth. Blood starts pouring out from where the claws are. The creature, with his claws still inside the chimera's body, raises his arm up and merciless throws away the chimera, tossing him as if he were nothing but a piece of meat. Once he got rid of Theo, the creature let out a screeching snarl before sprinting away into the woods, disappearing into the shadows.

Liam doesn't know when he started running, just feels his blood turn to ice and he doesn't think twice before he's racing, claws bared, to Theo's side. The beta races back towards his mate as fast as he can even with his legs feeling like jelly. All he can smell is blood. And all he can hear is the rapidly dwindling sound of Theo's heartbeat. He gets to where the chimera is on the ground, over his back and trying to raise his head to look at his wound while one hand is over his stomach.

_"Theo."_ he pants.

The werewolf reaches down to clasp Theo's hand the chimera had pressed to his wound. Even with his heart beating against his ribcage, Liam looked down at the wound and saw the green slime pouring out of it, mixing with the red of his blood. _The venom_. The venom had gotten inside him. He cringed but brushed it away; he could smell how much in pain the chimera was and knew he had to do something about it.

Liam grabs his hand and tries to take away his pain but finds it impossible. He frowns in confusion and tries it again, never letting go of the chimera's hand. Nothing happens. He continues frowning, a mix of anger at himself and confusion.

"I can't-" he clutches at Theo's hand tighter, looking at his mate, "I can't take your pain."

"It's okay..."

"No. No, it's not okay! H-how can you say that?!" he doesn't let go of Theo's hand even though he knows the pain isn't going anywhere.

He watches as a trickle of blood runs down the chimera's chin as he tries to smile, "You're here and that's what matters..."

Liam's face looks broken as he takes in his mate's words. No. No, no, no.

"No. _No, no, no_ , Theo. _Don't_ \--" he opens his eyes widen in fear, tears making his eyes look bluer than they usually do. "Don't- you don't do this. Not now. Okay? You're gonna be fine, you're gonna-" a whine slips from his lips, "Just hold on, okay?"

But Theo seems not to have heard him, or he decided to ignore his words.

"Tell Nolan that I'm sorry... I promised him I-I would take him to the movies on Friday."

" _Shh_ , don't talk, don't talk!" with his free hand he cradles the chimera's face.

"Take care of our son. Scott, Malia, Stiles, Lydia, of all of them... Take care of them, Liam."

Liam closes his eyes as hot tears slip from his eyes, going down his cheeks and falling over the chimera's face, mixing with the blood running down his mouth. His chest hurt. It hurt so damn bad and he just wanted to claw at it to make it stop.

"I love you." Theo says, "I love- love you so _fucking_ much, Liam, and I really hope you remember that for the rest of your days."

"Theo..."

"I love you."

They hear that horrible screeching snarl again and Liam feels Theo clutching his hand tighter. His heartbeat is starting to go slower.

"Y-you have to go. That thing can't catch you too." Liam shook his head. No way in hell he was going to leave Theo. _"Go!"_

Liam continued to shake his head; he could hear the creature snarls getting closer but he didn't care. The chimera slowly raises a hand to Liam's cheek and Liam let go of the hand gripping Theo's wound to grab a hold of the hand over his cheek, lacing his fingers with Theo's.

Theo manages to smile at him but then his smile faltered as he took a few raspy breaths and then he was still, his eyes open and looking right at the beta.

Liam freezes when the fading heartbeat below him stops completely. He feels as if someone were compressing at his chest; he couldn't breathe. His grip on Theo's wrist loosens to the point where his arm falls back to the ground.

The beta started shaking his head furiously; he looked down at the wound and could smell the rotting scent of the venom. His whole body was shaking and just as another snarl was heard he felt arms around him, pulling him up to his feet and trying to drag him away.

_"No! No!"_ Liam got free and went down on his knees again, _"I can't leave him like that! I can't leave him like that!"_

Derek managed to pull him up again, this time using a lot of strength as the beta struggled in his arms, tears going down his cheeks as he saw Theo lying on the ground; he was dragged away, Peter following behind them, and soon he found himself inside a car -Derek's car. The Evolved wolf was trying to keep him on his seat but he was hysterical. He was trying so hard to get out, struggling against Derek's hands and glowing his eyes at the older wolf, growling and cursing and there seemed to be no end so someone had to knock him out.

 

* * *

 

When Liam came back to the land of consciousness he opened his blue eyes and found himself staring at his living room's ceiling, realizing he was back at his house and lying on the couch. For a moment it was those brief moments were you didn't remember anything, where you weren't conscious of your surroundings and for just a second, you forget. But then, _oh_ , you remember.

He sat up so quickly that he thought that he might pass out again or even throw up, and then the pack was running back to the couch, not quite sitting beside him but close enough so the beta could know they were there. They had been over the kitchen and as soon as they perceived Liam awakening, they ran to the living room. The beta could feel their eyes looking at him and he knew he wasn't dreaming. This was reality and he would have to live it.

Still sitting in the couch, Liam shook his head, tears forming on his eyes as he stared back at his pack feeling his chest move up and down as if he were gasping for air. He sprang up from the couch he had been laying and suddenly he felt like a cornered animal: Scott was holding both hands to the front, like you would do to a frightened animal. Malia and Peter had both hands to their sides, fingers in position in case they needed to take their claws out. Liam couldn't take it anymore and ran out of the door and although everyone thought that he would run away or go back to the woods, Liam just took two steps out of the house before he collapsed on his knees in the front yard and let out a howl that's filled with endless sorrow and anguish.

When Liam was little, shortly after they diagnosed him with IED, he had been at the ER because he had a panic attack once he found out that his parents were getting a divorce. It happen all so sudden, him coming back from school to find out that his dad was leaving the house, leaving them, and it hit him. Suddenly he couldn't catch his breath and it felt like his chest was on fire and he was trying to swallow pieces of broken glass, all at the same time.

He had been rushed to the ER and the nurse asked him to rate the pain on a scale from one to ten. Though he couldn't speak, Liam held up nine trembling fingers and then passed out. When he came back to consciousness, his mom was sitting beside him over the hospital bed and the same nurse smiled kindly at him and told him that he had been very brave. As his mom combed his hair, the nurse told him that he had called a ten a nine.

But Liam, even being a kid, knew that that hadn't been the reason. It wasn't because he was brave; it was because he knew that there was something far worse than that pain he had experienced, and he was saving his ten for that occasion. Not even when he had experienced his first full moon or when he saw Hayden die or knowing that Scott had died. Not when Theo and he were fighting against the Ghost Riders and the chimera pushed him into the elevator and he thought that he would never see Theo again. Or when his mom had been hospitalized. Not when once he thought that Theo had left Beacon Hills after the Wild Hunt only to find out that the chimera was living in his truck.

No. _This_ was his ten.

Excruciating, agonizing, soul crashing pain was all he could feel, his head thrown back, eyes glowing as he continues howling, fangs bared. He's sure that maybe half of the town could hear him but he really didn't gave a rats ass right now; the pack was still behind him, still inside the house and watching. The howling stopped but then gave entry to the crying. It was a mix between strangled cries, his chest heaved with the emotion that came out with gasping breaths, and torturous screaming.

His chest ached and his eyes sting but the tears kept flowing, not wanting to stop at any moment. He was still on his knees, not knowing how he was able to hold himself even as he kept screaming until his throat was raw, until he could feel the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

The unendurable pain in his chest was so strong that he gagged, almost throwing up in the front lawn and that's when he felt strong arms wrapping around his chest and middle, pulling his back against Scott's chest as the arms of his Alpha tried to hold him, to keep him from falling apart in that moment. Scott just hugged Liam tight, his own tears falling from his eyes as he tried not to gag from the sour fermented scent rolling off Liam.

_Sadness. Mourn._

Lydia was hiding her face over Stiles' chest, her mascara all ruined and at any other time she would have tried to wipe it away but not now. Not right now. Stiles was combing her strawberry blond hair with one hand, closing his eyes as tears fell from his amber eyes while the other hand was holding hard at Derek's hand, the werewolf gripping as tight as he was doing. Malia's cheeks were wet and her upper lip was trembling as her coyote howled inside her chest. Even though Peter wasn't a big 'emotions' guy, he was currently holding himself over the wall, one hand clutching so hard at the wall that he was sure he would end up breaking it.

Outside over the front yard, Scott kept rocking Liam back and forward as the beta cried his eyes out, and he felt so powerless that he couldn't make his beta stop crying. That he couldn't stop him from hurting. Liam at some point had brought a hand to clutch at Scott's arm, his fingers curling around it and slipping away as he really didn't had the strength to do it.

He wasn't sure how or why he hasn't passed out from the intense pressure over his head or for the doubled-over pain in his chest. Just when he thought that he would spend the rest of his night there over the front lawn in Scott's arms, he heard it.

 

_"Dad?"_

 

Liam gasped as he heard that voice, that voice he got used to by getting awaken on the weekends before they had breakfast. That voice that cheered him up when he had a bad day at his work, when they were cuddling over the couch and watching a Disney movie. He slowly looked up to the front and saw Mason and Corey standing at the end of the yard, their parked car behind them. Holding Corey's hand was Nolan; the human kid was looking at him being held by Scott while crying God knows how long he's been like that, how much Nolan saw. He wanted to throw up.

Nolan let go of Corey's hand and slowly walked towards his dad, not knowing what was happening. Scott let go of Liam and moved away to give them some space but he was still sitting on the grass, not sure that his legs would want to hold him up right now.

Liam couldn't even smell the confusion coming from Mason and Corey because all he could smell right now were his own tears, his own despair and hurt.

As Nolan approached his dad, Mason looked over at Scott with a question on his eyes, but all the Alpha did was shake his head and thank god Mason was smart because the dark skinned human connected the dots and his face fell. Corey covers his mouth with his right hand and say 'oh no' before he turns to Mason and hides his face over the human's neck. Mason's arms go around his back and hold him.

Nolan stands in front of the kneeled beta on the grass, worrying why his dad's eyes were puffy and red, and there were tears going down his face. He also noticed that the chimera wasn't there.

"Where's papa?"

Liam wanted to whine at hearing that word right now, but he knew he had to tell Nolan. If not now he doesn't think he'll be able to tell him ever. He licked his lips, eyes still shiny and he opened his mouth with trembling lips, trying to form words that didn't want to come out. Nolan, still confused, looked behind his dad and at their house. The pack was there, watching them with equally pained expressions and he felt a tug over his chest, and even though he was little, Nolan could read the mood.

Nolan shook his head, first slowly in case his dad said that it wasn't what he was thinking, but then he started shaking it _'no'_ much faster. Liam tried to hold his son but the human kid just took some steps backwards, trying so hard not to have any kind of contact with the beta that was in front of him. Liam saw as his son shook his head, muttering 'no's under his breath and took the chance to grab Nolan by the arms and pulls him close to his body. The kid started squirming in his hold but then let the tears flow, his crying just making Liam's heart break more.

Liam hugged his son so tight and close to his body that he thought he would break a bone, but right now the kid couldn't feel more pain than he already was. They held into each other's arms, the pack behind them over the house when tears finally let loose and they couldn't -and didn't want to- stop them. Nolan's little body started shaking with hiccups and his knees gave in, luckily Liam's body was there to stop his fall as he held his son tighter and continued crying.

All he could do now was cry.

 

 

_"Losing a member of your pack isn't like losing family; It's like you lose a limb." -Cora Hale (Teen Wolf)._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BUT OF FUCKING COURSE I'M GONNA DO ANOTHER CHAPTER!!  
> It may take a couple of days but worry not! There will be a second chapter and I'm so sorry for this chapter!


	2. I Believe We'll Be Okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking long in uploading the second chapter!! I know you all were suffering and I'm so sorry but I really hope this chapter can make up for it!!  
> So, I leave you with this 12K long chapter ;)

_"It is love, not reason, that is stronger than death." - Thomas Mann._

 

Blue eyes slowly opened as Liam awakened. He stayed in bed as the light of the brand new day illuminated the room and even though he was now fully awaken, the beta didn't felt the strength to get up from his - _their_ bed. He was lying on his side, his arms holding Nolan close to his chest as the kid slept peacefully. They weren't able to sleep even after hours of crying until they went to Liam and Theo's bedroom. Liam could still smell the chimera over the room and that made him cry a little more, and although he was pretty sure that he shouldn't be there in their room because it only would hurt him more, he couldn't bear the thought of falling asleep without Theo's scent filling his senses.

Liam stared at Nolan for a few minutes, hearing his son's calm heartbeat and even breathes until he decided that he should get up, slowly untangling himself away from Nolan. The kid shifted a little, trying to get closer to his dad even in his sleep, and so Liam grabbed Theo's pillow and pressed it where he had been lying seconds ago. Nolan hugged the pillow and buried his face on it, a small smile appearing over his face. Liam sometimes wondered if the kid was supernatural because it seemed that Theo's scent calmed him.

Sighing, Liam got up from the bed and decided to go downstairs because his throat hurt from all the screaming and crying. Before leaving, he looked himself in the mirror and wiped the dried tears. His eyes were puffy, his hair was disheveled and he looked a little pale. After making sure that he didn't looked like a walking corpse, he made his way out of the room and downstairs.

While he was expecting the house to be in total silence, he didn't heard the voices until he was stepping on the last step. He frowned a little and got closer to the living room where he saw that the pack was over the living room, apparently sleeping.

Over the couch was Derek sleeping on his back with Stiles draped half on top of the Evolved wolf, using his chest as a pillow and his mouth hanging slightly open. Close to the couch, Peter was on the floor on his side, a cushion under his head and a blanket throw on top of him. Mason and Corey were cuddling on the other side, the human holding the chameleon hold to his chest, their hands intertwined. Liam noticed the missing members and the empty spaces on the floor, cushions and blanket in a make-like nest.

When Liam turned around to the kitchen he saw Scott, Malia, and Lydia standing over the kitchen island. The three older ones stared at him in silence, just as Liam took in their looks:

Malia had managed to hold her medium-sized hair in a high ponytail, some strands falling to her front. There were evident trails of wetness over her cheeks and her eyes were a little puffy -but not as red as Liam's- and she was biting softly over her lips. Her shirt was wrinkled and there were claw marks over the hem of it; obviously she somehow clawed at it. Probably while she was sleeping.

Lydia's hair was all over the place this morning. Nothing like the usually fashionable Lydia Martin they all know; the one that even after she wakes up she still looks like a goddess. Well, this goddess was now a simple mortal. Her clothes had wrinkles as she obviously slept in them, her eye liner and mascara was smudged all over her face but she still smiled softly at him. Well, a half-smile at least.

And Scott... Oh dear God, Scott looked worse than he had been looking when he had to claw his eyes out when they were fighting the Anuk-Ite. He looked exhausted, dark bags under his eyes, hair looking disheveled and for once, there wasn't a smile over his face.

They all seemed to want to say something but they looked like they didn't know what to say, or even if it was a good idea. Luckily, it was the Alpha who managed to speak first,

"Hey... How're you feeling?"

Liam realized that he was still standing at the kitchen's entrance since he could barely hear Scott's voice. "My throat hurts..." he said as he entered the kitchen.

Scott nods and pours him some water. He holds the glass to his beta and Liam offers him half-smile as he accepts the glass.

"Thanks," and it takes a moment before he finally allows the cold water to wash his throat. It burns for a moment before it feels refreshing.

He stares at the glass over his hand and can feel the eyes of the others over him, but he can't look up. He can't meet their eyes because he knows what he'll find there.

_Pain. Pity. Sadness. Compassion._

He doesn't need that right now. Not when he's trying so hard to stand on both feet without falling to the ground, curl into himself and cry his eyes out. He clears his throat a little before turning his head to the window over the sink.

"We were gonna make breakfast. What would you like?" Lydia's soft voice asks him.

The mere thought of food makes Liam want to puke. He doesn't want to eat... ever again. But he knows that he can't say that out loud, so he just shrugs.

"Whatever you do is fine." he pauses before putting the glass over the island, still not meeting their eyes, "I, uh, I'm gonna go upstairs and check on Nolan. I don't want him to wake up and..." and realize that _both_ his dads aren't there. He would freak out.

"Sure." Scott's voice says. "We'll tell you when breakfast is ready."

Liam doesn't say anything; it all feels surreal. They're in the kitchen talking about breakfast as if nothing has happened. As if they weren't aching from the inside. Without anything else to add, the beta turns around and goes upstairs. He gets to his bedroom and opens the door as slowly as he can.

Nolan is still over the bed, clutching the pillow to his chest and his face pressed against it. His heart aches at the sight. Liam slowly approaches the bed, sitting on the edge and looking down at his son as he cards a hand through his hair. He stays like that before he hears the slight change in Nolan's heartbeat as he starts awakening. The kid starts slowly opening his tired eyes until they look up to his dad.

They hold their eyes as Liam grimaces and Nolan then scoots closer to his dad and hides his face over his hip. Moments later Liam feels something wetting his boxers as tears spill from his son's eyes. Liam can smell the tears and he tries so hard to not let his own spill. He has to be strong. He was to be strong for his- _their_ son.

But being strong was never easy.

Liam felt a knot over his throat as he wrapped his arms around Nolan, pulling him closer to him and rocking him in slow motions as the kid continued crying, muffled by the beta's clothing.

It took them almost half hour to stop crying and go downstairs to get some breakfast. When they reached the kitchen they saw all the pack already awake. Every single pair of eyes fell on them and God, Liam felt like he were in a zoo. Mason and Corey, sitting close to the other, grimace at him. Peter was standing beside Malia next to the fridge. Scott and Lydia were over the stove, and Derek and Stiles were sitting over the stools.

Nolan sits in one of the stools beside Derek, looking down at his hands before grabbing a fork and staring at it. Liam runs a hand through his hair as he moves to the other side of the island, going for a plate for his breakfast. As he does so, Lydia puts a plate in front of the human kid and softly smiles at him. Nolan meets her eyes and manages to half-smile. He then looks down at his plate and soon his fork falls from his hand, clattering over the floor. The pack turns to him, worried. The kid's heartbeat started climbing, worrying all the supernaturals in the room.

Nolan quickly got off his seat, looking scared, _"No..."_

Liam frowned, trying to get closer to his son, "Nolan?"

 _"NO!"_ the kid ran upstairs before anyone could touch him and locked himself over his room.

Everyone was left worried.

"What? What happened?!" Malia asked in a worried tone.

Liam shook his head, not knowing what happened either but then he looked down at Nolan's plate and his breathe got caught in his windpipe.

Blueberry pancakes.

He tried to swallow the knot as he opened his mouth, "Those were _his_ favorites..." he mutters. He can't even say his name.

Confused eyes look at him before they all widen after understanding. Lydia, the one who prepared the pancakes, covers her mouth with both hands, eyes impossible wide.

" _Oh my god_ , Liam. Oh my- I'm _so_ sorry, I--"

Liam shook his head, knowing that it wasn't the banshee's fault, and was going to go upstairs to get his son before a hand fell on his shoulder, stopping him. He turned to the owner of the hand and found his best friend looking at him,

"Let me." Mason said, "You stay and eat. You haven't eaten anything since yesterday."

Mason doesn't wait for an answer; he goes out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Liam stares as he walks out of the kitchen and disappears upstairs. He can hear the gentle knock on the door and then the door opening before it closes again.

Liam sits on the stool Nolan had been sitting and stares at his hands. He notices that the plate with the pancakes has been removed and he silently thanks whoever did that.

The breakfast is quiet, not even a mumble or a whisper to be heard.

 

* * *

 

After that, Liam thought that the pack would leave. Go back to their lives because they all had individual lives but he couldn't find the strength to ask when they were gonna leave.

They didn't.

They all stayed in the house, trying to act as normal and calm as they could, even with everything that was happening.

Peter was over the single couch, a book over his hands. Malia was just lying on the floor on her back, staring at the ceiling and if it wasn't because Liam could hear her heart beating, he would say that she looked dead. Scott and Lydia were over the kitchen, the banshee sitting on one stool with a coffee mug in her hands and Scott was standing opposite to her. Derek and Stiles were over the puff on the floor: actually, Derek was the one over the puff and Stiles was using his leg as a backrest, idly playing with his hands in some attempt to distract himself.

Liam himself was over the large couch, legs brought up to his chest and just staring at the nothing. He had been deciding whether to turn on the TV or not; he knew he wouldn't be able to watch the TV but he felt like he needed something to break the tension- Nobody was talking.

Excusing himself from the living room -that felt weird because it was his house- he went upstairs and to his room. Before entering, he used his hearing to listen to Nolan's room. The kid and Mason were still there; Corey had to bring them their breakfast -no pancakes or anything similar- since Nolan wasn't able to leave his room yet. Mason stayed with him the whole morning and Liam was thankful for his best friend. He could hear Mason reading a book to Nolan, and could hear the peaceful heartbeats of his son.

After that, Liam entered his own room and once inside and the door closed behind him, he stared at the unkempt bed. He wanted so badly to just lie there and inhale Theo's scent before it disappeared forever. He didn't want it to disappear. But he's not sure he has an option. He walked to one of the nightstands at each side of the bed, the one on Theo's side. His hand hovered over it but couldn't bring himself to touch anything. Not the half-empty glass of water Theo left there, or the black pen he used whenever he wanted to solve crossword puzzles in the newspaper.

Liam walked to the other side of the room towards the boudoir and stared at the small plastic container with gel in it. That stupid gel the chimera liked to use so much, even though Liam had told him he liked it when his hair was wild and natural. A finger touches the lid and his whole body trembles. Taking his hand back, Liam is going to continue looking around the room when something caught his attention. Draped over the chair of the boudoir was a black bomber jacket belonging to the chimera. Once he always liked to use, similar to the ones he used to wear when they were younger.

Liam's breathe hitches and can't help but to hold a trembling hand to the piece of clothing, almost as if he were afraid that if he touched it, the jacket would disappear. He grabs the jacket from the chair and slowly with both hands he stares at it, smiling sadly at the memory of the chimera wearing it a couple of days ago. Then he brings the jacket to his nose and takes a deep breath, the chimera's scent filling his whole being.

He manages to open his eyes -not realizing he closed them- as he smells the jacket, inhaling Theo's scent all he can with his eyebrows furrowed, tears form in his eyes before he feels a presence behind him and quickly turns around, finding Scott about to knock on the already open door. He didn't even hear when the door was opened.

"Hey... Sorry to bother." The Alpha seems kind of sorry and ashamed of having interrupted what it looked like an intimate moment for his beta.

Still holding the jacket but no longer to his nose, Liam shakes his head, "No... It's okay." he says with a sad tone, "What is it?"

"I, uh, have to go to the clinic. I really wish I shouldn't but I have a patient and-

"Scott." he said as calm as he could, "Go."

**_'You don't have to stop your life for me.'_ **

"It's okay."

**_'I'm not letting you stop your life because mine stopped.'_ **

Scott looked deep in conflict, debating whether he should go or stay with his beta. Knowing that it would be better if he stayed but knowing that Liam wouldn't like that, he opted for leaving.

"Ok. Lydia said that she will go to the market because you apparently don't have any food left in your fridge. Derek and Stiles are going with her, so..."

Liam nodded, "It's okay,"

**_'No, it's not okay.'_ **

"I'll be fine."

**_'I will never be okay again.'_ **

Scott nodded and stared at him. Liam licked his lips, still holding the jacket in a tight grip when Scott opened his mouth but instead of saying something, he turned around and left the room. He could hear his Alpha going down the stairs and talking to someone before the door opened and then closed.

Liam let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. As he heard a vehicle's engine come to life, he looked around the room

He could hear Mason's soft voice as he continued reading to Nolan, the were-chameleon in the room with them and sometimes saying something under his breath.

Still holding the jacket, Liam went to the guest room and opened the door, leaving it ajar as he walked towards the window that had a kind of balcony. He opened it and exited the window with extra care, and then sat on the small ledge, his legs dangling as he held the jacket close to his chest. He stayed like that for a few minutes, just staring at the sun coming down at the horizon when he heard someone entering the room but he didn't turned around. By the scent he knew who it was.

Malia came out of the window and sat beside him. They didn't acknowledge the other, not even a single word for two whole minutes before Liam clutched the jacket harder.

"Don't get me wrong but what are you doing here?" he asked the were-coyote.

"I came to check up on you. Also Peter fell asleep on the couch and he started snoring."

Liam tried to smile at that but he couldn't. He continued staring at the front as the sun came down.

"Besides, I had to make sure that you wouldn't, you know, jump off the window or something. Not that I really think you would but you never know."

"Thanks."

"What for?"

"For not treating me like I'm made of glass. Like everyone has been doing." he bites his lip, "It's like... they think that at the sole mention of his name I will crumble and never get up."

"Are you?"

Liam stays quiet for a couple of minutes.

"I miss him." his voice breaks a little.

"I know, we all do." her eyes softened.

Liam frowned for a moment, reaching a hand up to his left eye to rub it, "I've been so focused on my own feelings that I forgot to ask you how you were handling it."

"Liam," Malia says his name in a certain tone that he has to turn to face her, "He was your husband. The father of your child. Your _mate_. If anyone has the right to shut off from everyone it's you."

Liam nods. They share another moment of silence before this time it's Malia the one who breaks it.

"It's just weird, you know?" she says with a dry chuckle, "One moment he was with us, smiling one of his stupid smirks and then... gone."

The sad scent is rolling off Malia in waves.

"And I know that Scott probably would tell you something like he's still going to be here with us. Everywhere we go, everything we do, he's going to be there and stuff..." her voice breaks for a moment, "And I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it's not going to hurt every time you think about him because I'm not like that. _But..._ I can tell you that we will never forget about him; he'll always live in our memory and in all the things he gave us."

Liam was sure he could smell the single tear slipping down her cheek but he knew that if she wasn't acknowledging it, he wasn't either. From all the people he thought would be the most affected by _this_ , he wouldn't have thought it would be Malia. Sure, the bad blood between Malia and Theo ended years ago, but still it was quite shocking to know that she was suffering this way.

After falling in silence once again, Liam was sure that neither of them had the strength to keep talking. Not when one could easily break and start crying. Malia kept smelling so sad even after they fell silent, and Liam really didn't know what to do. He thought that he should better leave her alone for a while, even though he's the one who got here first.

Liam stands up from the ledge, jacket still on his hand and his grip never wavering, ready to leave before he stops to look at the were-coyote. He looks at the black piece of clothing over his hands and after making up his mind, he lowers the jacket over Malia's shoulders as slowly as he can. He can hear the change in her heartbeat but instead of pushing him away, she holds the arms of the jacket tight once they're settled on her shoulders, bringing it closer to her body. Liam really doesn't know why but he feels like she really needs the jacket more than he does right now. Grimacing at her even though Malia had her back at him, the beta turns around and leaves the guest room.

A couple of hours later Lydia, Derek and Stiles come back with Derek's car completely filled with groceries bags. Liam was over the kitchen when they arrived, hands full. He was going to help them but the strawberry blonde woman shook her head and said that it was Derek and Stiles' punishment because apparently they had fought about something in an aisle and accidentally broke something, and she had to pay for it.

Liam wasn't so convinced that was the entire reason she didn't wanted him to help but he decided not to push it. When Lydia said that dinner would be in a few, the beta declined and said that he wasn't really hungry, which wasn't a lie. He decided to go upstairs and go to his room, just wanting to lie down on the bed and wait for this day to end already.

Liam goes to bed and decides to stay in the same clothes he has been all day and just plows down on the bed. Just as his eyelids are closing he realizes that he hasn't seen Nolan since breakfast. He sleeps with an ache in his heart.

Next day is not easier than the first one; it takes him a while to get up from the bed and eventually move his humanity downstairs to have breakfast. Scott and Stiles are there, sitting over the stools at the kitchen and eating cereal when he appears at the entrance of the kitchen. Stiles nods at his way as he goes to sit beside him. The True Alpha places a plate with scrambled eggs in front of him.

"Hey... How're you handling it?" Scott asks.

Liam looks down at his own plate.

"Just getting by."

Scott nods and continues eating his cereal while Stiles stares at him, his bowl completely forgotten.

"What is it?" the human asks, "You haven't touched your eggs; I know Scott might not be an excellent chef, but he manages to make a good breakfast-

"It's not that." Liam says shaking his head.

"Then what is it? Bad nights? I've had those, remember?"

"No, I... I don't know how to explain it."

"Nightmares?" Scott asks.

"No." Liam looks up to look at them, "It's just... This might sound weird but sometimes it feels as if I'm not even really awake."

Liam sprints up in a sitting position from his bed, screaming at the top of his lungs as tears go down his face. He starts trashing over the bed, still screaming, when the door opens and Scott and Lydia rush into the bedroom, not losing time and jumping onto the bed to hold the crying beta. Scott positions himself behind Liam, his arms going around his beta and trying to calm him down; trying to stop him from trashing over his bed. Liam's heart is still beating furiously inside his chest, and tears are still pouring down but at least he stopped moving, his chest heaving as he takes in Scott muttering reassuring words. Lydia caressed his arms in a soothing way, sitting in front of him over the bed and looking at him with a worried yet pained look.

Liam realizes that he just probably woke them up with his screaming and that most probably the rest of the pack is downstairs over the living room, worried about him. At knowing that this was his life from now on, Liam just cried harder, clutching at the arms holding him and trying to relax under the hand gently caressing his arm up and down.

 

* * *

 

When Liam opens his eyes again he finds that he's alone at his room, the curtains only half open to allow some rays of light enter and illuminate the room. That's the only way he knows that it's another day, but he's not sure if he's really awake. He has to know that he's not dreaming; that he won't wake up screaming again, worrying his pack more than they already are. Still lying on his side on the bed, Liam moves his hand so it's at his eyes level and counts his fingers, just like Stiles used to do. _One. Two. Three. Four. Five._

He moves his other hand from under the pillow and continues. _Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten._

He feels relief washing over him before his eyes fall over the golden band around his finger and his heart sinks again. He gives the band a light touch before he closes his hand in a fist, shutting his eyes as a whine escapes him and he curls more into himself over the bed.

From downstairs, the pack hears his whine and their hearts bleed for the beta.

 

* * *

 

Hazel grey eyes sluggish and almost painfully opened, blinking a few times trying to get used to the morning light getting to them. Once open, those eyes moved to take a look in his surroundings, not really recognizing where he was. Theo blinks a few more times before he feels dizzy and the feeling that he's going to throw up; he tries to sit up but a scorching pain over his stomach decides that he shouldn't even try to move. He groans at the pain, a hand reaching out to touch the place where it hurts.

"Careful there. You're still pretty roughed up to be moving around."

Theo frowns at that voice; he's never heard that voice before and a part of him tells him that he should be wary of it, but the other part tells him that he needs to stop overthinking for fuck's sake. He's too wear off to even try to pick a fight, so instead he looks around and notices that he's in a coyote den. He continues looking around until he finds the source of the voice.

A young woman, maybe three years older than him, was sitting at the other side of the cave. Her face was slightly squared-shaped and her eyes were grey-green with thick lashes. Dark brown long hair in curls -or wavy, depending on how you looked at them- fell to her front, and her unblemished porcelain skin shimmered with the campfire that apparently she had lighten up. She was wearing a green robe that made her eyes stood out ([x](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/8a/d0/5a/8ad05a926c7a508d67255b160598f483.jpg)). She approaches him with a wet cloth, running it over his forehead with gentle touches.

"You were out for a whole day, my friend." she says with a gentle voice as she removes the cloth.

Theo stares at her, just about to close his eyes again because he was so tired when he remembered the events that lead him to be here in this cave.

That freakish creature snarling at them. Peter, Derek, Liam and him fighting against it. Lydia screaming and then the unbearable pain he felt when those claws pierced him and he felt the venom flowing inside his body. Liam crying above him, sad tears falling over his face. Liam not wanting to leave him, clutching his hand harder.

Liam hearing his heart stop and crying harder.

Theo gasps and quickly tries to sit up again but a pair of hands stop him,

"They think I'm dead! My pack. My family-

"Well, technically you were dead. Ten minutes, maybe twelve. Luckily I was around the place and found you before that thing did it first." she gets up from where she was standing at his side and moves to grab something greasy looking and also green. "Your heart stopped and so I brought you here. This was the closest place I could find."

Theo stares at her for a minute in silence before he opens his mouth,

"You're a druid."

"That I am." she grabs some of the green substance with her fingers and slowly brings them to his bare stomach, but doesn't touch him. That's when he realizes that he's shirtless.

"May I?"

Theo nods. She rubs the substance directly over his wound and it burns for a moment, but then he actually starts feeling it cooling. He relaxes a little under the touch and as soon as it began it was over. He looked down at the green substance over his wound and then at the druid as she got up to get something else. She comes back holding a bottle with water. Good. His throat was starting to bother him.

"I know that you're worried about your pack. But right now you're in no conditions to go out. Not with that creature still on the loose." she opens the bottle and tilts it so he can drink; once he's done, she removes the bottle, "For now you need to rest, save your strength. I promise that when you're all better I'll help you find your pack."

Theo really just wants to get up on his feet and go out of that cave and go back home, but he knows that the druid is right. Whether he likes to admit it or not, he's still weak and he wouldn't be able to fight that creature all by himself and survive. Although it's hurting him being separated from his mate he decides to do what the druid says. He just wishes that Liam and the others aren't too far gone, thinking that he's really dead.

 

* * *

 

When Liam opens his eyes again there's still sunlight outside coming into his room. Maybe he fell asleep just for a couple of hours. He wants to stay in bed but remembers how Nolan retracted to his room for the whole day and he didn't care to check on him. So he decides that he should make Nolan breakfast and bring it to his room. Yeah, he will do that.

He gets up from bed and exits the room, slowly going downstairs and finding the living room empty. That's weird. Just as he turns the corner to enter the kitchen he finds to his surprise his son already there, eating a bowl of colorful cereal in the kitchen island. Nolan turns his head to his direction and the two stare at each other.

"Oh. You're awake."

Nolan nods.

"Uncle Mason and Uncle Corey left when I woke up, and the others had to go for some clothes but they said they would come back. Uncle Peter is in the bathroom."

Liam nodded. He ordered his legs to move into the kitchen and decided to finally eat something. He grabbed another bowl and poured some of the cereal Nolan was eating and stood across his son. Nolan turned to look at his bowl, not meeting his eyes and just when Liam was about to open his mouth and say something, the bathroom's door opened and Peter came out.

The older werewolf went to the kitchen and saw Liam, "Well, good morning, sleeping beauty. Ready to have some breakfast?" he looks at the bowl, "Oh, never mind. I see that you attended yourself just fine."

Liam sighs. It's too early and he's too tired to handle this shit. He let go of his spoon and he's about to leave the kitchen when Peter stands in his way.

"Liam." the beta stops and stares at him. Peter opens his mouth once but closes it as fast as he opened it. He tries it two more times before he finally nods at himself,

"It was my bite that turned Scott, and it was his bite that turned you. I know that I'm not the most emotive person or that you and I don't have much of a relationship aside from pack members but... I think that every time I see you I always see myself as a bastardized version of a grandparent." he cringes as soon as those words leave his mouth. Liam's brows furrow, "That sounded pretty twisted, I know, it sounded better in my head."

Liam manages to smile.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is..." but he doesn't say anything else; instead he lifts a hand and slowly lowers it over the beta's shoulder, warmth spreading through his skin. Behind them, Nolan bites his lip. Liam can feel what Peter really wanted to transmit though his touch and he really was grateful for that.

_"What's for breakfast?"_

The two werewolf give a jump at the voice behind them. They turn to see Malia with bedhair standing at the entrance of the kitchen, her eyes trying to stay open; obviously she just awakened.

Peter removes his hand from Liam's shoulder to put it over his chest, right over his heart, "Jesus Superstar, where were you?!"

"In the guest room."

Liam then notices she was still wearing Theo's jacket, only her arms were inside the sleeves and it was zipped up. He grimaces and their eyes meet. Malia offers him a small smile and then moves further into the kitchen, going to stand behind Nolan,

"Hey, kid. Are those Froot Loops? Can I have some?"

Nolan nodded and the were-coyote picked some of the colorful cereal rings from the bowl and ate them. Liam felt a hand patting him over the back and turned as Peter nodded to get back on his seat,

"Come on, I'll make you breakfast."

"But..." Liam glances at his forgotten bowl of cereal.

"Ooh, Hale no, kid. You're gonna get real breakfast this time; I don't care if I have to ask Malia to hold you down while you eat my omelet."

 

* * *

 

After breakfast, Peter and Malia take Nolan to the couch to watch a movie and that's the moment Liam decides that he's gonna take a shower; he really needs one, so he just voices out what he's gonna do and goes upstairs and to his room. Once inside the lonely room, he looks around one more time before going to the bathroom and turning on the water, letting it run as he undresses. He started removing each garment of clothes slowly, almost as if they had rocks inside them. Or maybe it was his arms? Feeling like someone had injected his body with lead and he was inside a pool and drowning.

As his underwear touched the ground, he only stepped out of them before standing completely bare in the middle of the room. He's been in this same position several times in the past, but for completely different reasons. Letting out a sigh, Liam goes to the bathroom and gets inside the shower and under the spurts of hot water. He wet his face first, his eyes shut closed as he moves his head back to leave some access to his neck. He tries to give in the hot water relaxing his muscles, tries to not think about anything else; about the pain his son is feeling and how he can't help him because the pain he himself is feeling isn't allowing him. About how the pack tries to keep him from falling apart when they know it's inevitable.

A whole day really has passed since _it_ happened; a whole day without Theo. There was a time where he didn't thought it could be possible to live a day without the chimera but now he would have to live the rest of his life without him. Liam let out a whine and shook his head. He looks down and notices something reddish washing off his body.

Blood. But not his.

His heart skips a beat and he looks away, trying not to think about it. And he's almost succeeded but it isn't until the blood starts washing off his body that he can't help it anymore and starts crying, feeling his whole body tremble as each tear escapes from his eyes and mixes with the water from the shower. He watches as the blood and water go to the drain and disappear. He starts getting dizzy, his legs can't hold him and he has to kneel and sit down before he falls completely out of the shower. The tiles are cold against his back as he leans on it, hiding his face over his brought up legs as more cries escape him.

He stays in that position for an hour, the water turning cold in contrast of the scorching feeling in his veins.

Liam comes out of the shower once the tears stop flowing and his legs are able to hold him up again. He gets dressed in one of Theo's hoodies that still smell like him, and instead of staying curled in his bed wallowing in his own misery, he decides to do something that he should've done since yesterday. He walks out of his room, hearing the faint noises of the pack still downstairs, and goes to Nolan's room.

Once he's standing in front of the door, he brings a hand up to knock on the wood but doesn't do it right away. He waits as he hears the heartbeats coming from the other side of the door. Licking his lips, he moves his hand to hold the knob and turns it around, opening the door slowly and entering the room.

Nolan was sitting cross-legged in the middle of his bed, looking down at some storybook and apparently reading it. As soon as he heard the door opening he looked up and his heart skipped a beat as he saw his dad over the door.

"Hey, munchkin." Liam stood over the door, even after having closed it. He felt kind of awkward. "Whatcha reading?"

"Just something Uncle Corey gave to me."

"That's nice."

They fall in silence. Liam wants to slap himself across the face. What's wrong with him? This is his son! He shouldn't be all awkward and stand in the doorway like some loser.

_'Get a grip of yourself, Dunbar!'_

Liam decides to get closer to the bed; he sits on the edge, turning his body to face his son. The kid looks at his hands for a moment before slowly and almost torturously he looks up at Liam. Now having his son's attention and being close to him, Liam starts speaking,

"I know that I, uh, I haven't really been there for you while all of this happened..."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. Don't try to excuse my actions." bless this kid and his sweet heart. "I know I needed and deserved a moment to be weak and just cry myself to sleep but I should've thought about your feelings too. I should've..." he takes some air before continuing, "We all lost someone. The pack lost an invaluable member and friend. I lost the love of my life, but you..." he gives his son a sour smile, "you lost your papa."

Nolan's scent is sad. Liam can practically taste it.

"And you needed comfort and I-I wasn't there for you. I couldn't oblige myself to get up from my own pain to help you— _my son_. My sunshine..."

They stay in silence after that. Liam needs a moment because he can feel the knot forming over his throat and feels that if he continues he's gonna start crying soon. Nolan's lower lip starts trembling and his tiny hands curl into fists.

"Did he..." the seven year-old stops for a moment, seemingly rearranging his thoughts and words before voicing them out, "Did papa suffered?"

Liam's breathe hitches in his throat. He lifts a hand to brush away the hair falling over Nolan's beautiful eyes.

"No. No, baby. He was smiling. He was more worried about you, about all of us than about himself. He," he manages to smile through wet eyes, "he was always like that, the bastard. Worrying about the others first." he takes his hand away, "And I want you to remember him like that: He was so brave, and a beautiful human being. A-and he loved you, with all his heart."

Nolan nods, a shy but warm smile over his face,

"He loved you too."

Liam cried, closing his eyes as he let out a chuckle and a tear escaped him, "Yes. Yes he did. And I loved him. So very much..."

Nolan's tears fell from his face and Liam raised a hand to wipe them away, feeling his own falling. Nolan reached out as well and did the same thing Liam did. The beta couldn't take it anymore and brought his arms around the kid; Nolan's arms quickly went around his dad and the two started rocking back and forward slowly, hugging the other and not wanting to let go.

After the whole heart to heart moment, Nolan fell asleep in his dad's arms. Kissing his son's forehead, Liam came out of the room, letting his son rest a little before dinner was ready. As he left the room he ran into Mason, who was coming from downstairs and was surprised to see Liam coming out of Nolan's room. He took in Liam's state and grimaced,

"Hey. How did it go?"

Liam sighed, "He cried... I cried... But... we finally managed to talk some things out. I told him that Theo didn't suffered. That he loved him so much and that-"

He stops abruptly, brows furrowed as his eyes look down at the floor for a moment and suddenly his eyes open wide. As if realization just hit him.

Mason frowns at seeing his expression, "What?"

"I never said it back."

The human keeps frowning, but doesn't say anything.

Liam looks up and knows he has to explain. "When Theo- He was dying but he made sure to tell me that he loved me. I know he knew I did too but now that I told Nolan I--" he looks down one more time before he looks up, blue eyes filled with tears, "I never said it back."

Mason can feel the knot over his own throat at those words. He knows that Liam is in so much pain. He also knows that he can't take Liam's pain away like Scott or Malia; he can't comfort him with scent like Nolan, so he does what any other human would do:

He reaches a hand out to Liam's shoulder blade and once it's settled there, he pulls, bringing his best friend for a hug.

Liam's body starts trembling as his eyes close and more tears escape him; his hands come up to the dark-skinned human's back and cling to it.

He cries silently in his best friend's arms.

 

* * *

 

Over the coyote den, Theo is sitting on the makeshift bed the druid made, the woman extinguishing the fire with some dirt. While sitting up, he's testing his muscles; they're still a little sore but he can move freely now. He picks up his shirt from beside the bed and as he puts it on, he watches as the dark haired woman picks up from herbs in small jars and puts them inside a brown satchel. Once she's ready she stands up and walks towards him, looking around the den,

"Come on. We need to get out of the woods before the sun goes down. That thing will most likely come out at night."

Theo stands up, mentally thanking that his middle isn't in pain anymore; he still has a nasty scar that might take a couple of days to disappear but at least he's still alive.

The druid turns to him, securing her satchel's strap over her shoulder, "Ready?"

Theo nods and the two make their way out of the den.

Not having a watch or his phone with him to know the time, Theo doesn't know how long they've been walking around the woods and it doesn't help much that they're kind of going slow because of him. He doesn't like being a liability.

The druid, however, doesn't seem to mind that they're going slower because of him. She even starts talking to him,

"You know, I just realized that I saved your life, kept you alive for almost two days and yet I don't know your name."

The chimera looks at her back -since he's walking behind her-, but she doesn't stop moving or turn around as she speaks. He decides whether it's a good idea to give his name that easily. She saved his life for fuck's sake! Stop being so paranoid!

After almost two minutes since she asked the question, the chimera finds himself answering,

"Theo."

Finally, the druid stops and turns around to look at him, offering him a soft smile,

"Artemis."

 

* * *

 

While Liam was upstairs in his room, the pack was downstairs and over the living room, talking about an important matter.

Scott was the first to talk, "The creature. Parrish said some eye witness saw it roaming over the preserve."

"The same creature?"

The Alpha nods. Malia's eyes glow blue.

"So what's the plan?" Lydia asks.

"We're gonna go to the preserve and this time, we're gonna do it right. We won't split up; I'm serious, I don't want anyone out of my sight."

"Then we corner and hobble the bastard." Stiles says. Malia nods in agreement.

"Okay, is everyone ready?"

The pack nods at their Alpha.

"I wanna go."

Startled, they all turn to the bottom of the stairs where Liam is standing, not knowing how long he's been there or how comes they didn't notice.

"Liam," Scott tries to talk, "I-I don't think that's the best idea."

A growl reverberates from Liam's chest, his eyes glow golden and he looks at them with a furious yet determined look. They all know it's futile trying to dissuade the beta from coming.

Scott sighs, turning to look at the rest of the pack,

"I guess we're all going."

 

* * *

 

And so the pack went to the woods. Corey stayed back at the house to take care of Nolan, since although the kid was asleep he shouldn't be left alone. They were walking over the woods, using their sight and nose to try and catch a scent, although they weren't sure exactly how the creature smelled. They were alert on everything.

"As soon as I see that thing I'm going to slash its neck." Malia said with a tight jaw.

"Get in line." Derek growls beside her.

Liam would also join the conversation but he's having a pretty hard time being there in the woods. The last time he was there was, well... when Theo died. He wasn't sure if he would be able to ever step a foot inside the woods yet here he was. Searching for the same creature that took away the love of his life. He continues walking in automatic when he feels a hand over his arm. He stops overthinking and looks at Scott who is looking at him with a soft look,

"Hey... Are you okay?"

"No. Not really." Liam admits and they stop walking. "...I can hear his breaths, how short and ragged they were. I can see his eyes as he coughed up his blood. Every time I close my eyes I'm haunted with the thought of living without him. And when I open them I realize that living without him _is_ reality."

With his hand still over the beta's shoulder, Scott says "We're gonna find this thing and make sure no one else gets hurt again."

Liam looks at him in silence for a moment before he says "Theo didn't got hurt; he died."

Scott feels like someone kicked him in the stomach. He knows that Liam didn't meant to be rude but it still hurt. Scott knows what it feels like to lose someone you love; how difficult is to keep breathing when that person is no longer breathing the same air as you do. Removing his hand from Liam's shoulder he nods at his beta.

Still walking ahead of them, Malia suddenly stops, looking around the woods with her brows furrowed.

"Do you hear that?" she asks.

The others stop walking and look around at their surroundings, trying to catch any scent, any noise. It doesn't matter they hadn't seen anything, they were gonna prepare; the werewolves taking out their claws, Stiles and Lydia preparing themselves and Mason gripping tight his bat.

Malia turns her head to the left and sees something moving along the trees. She let out a coyote roar, eyes flashing blue as she runs towards the direction the movement was seen.

"Malia, wait!"

 

* * *

 

Somewhere over the woods, Theo and Artemis were also walking, the chimera looking around and staying alert when suddenly the druid stopped, holding an arm up to stop the chimera. Theo frowned at her.

"The creature is near." she says.

"How near?"

A screeching snarl is heard echoing all around the woods, making the two of them still. Artemis turns to look at him,

"Very."

 

* * *

 

Malia keeps running towards the shadow moving over the trees. She's getting closer, she can feel it. Her blood is pumping inside her veins and it feels like someone poured gasoline inside and each movement of her legs set up the fire but she ignores it. She won't give up.

Soon she reaches a point where there are no trees around her. She stops and frowns, not seeing the thing she was following. She looks around a couple of times, trying to calm down her heart so she can hear better. That's when she hears it: a branch snapping in half and she turns around in time to see the creature raising its arm and bringing it down, clawing at the were-coyote's arm. Malia falls to the ground, luckily uninjured. When she looks at the claw marks over the jacket, she turns to look at the creature with pure hatred and roars at it. Anger.

The creature turns tail and runs to another direction. Just as the coyote is standing on her feet to follow, Scott appears beside her, holding her back.

"Malia!" she growls at him, "Malia, calm down!"

"I had it!" she growls at him, obviously desperate.

The rest of the pack comes behind them.

"What happened? Are you okay?!" Peter demands to know, looking at the claw marks over the jacket.

"I'm fine! But that thing won't be as soon as I find its ass!"

"Um, guys?"

They all turn to Stiles -the one who spoke- and see that he's looking around them. More specific, at each member of the pack. Scott looks too and notices the same thing as the others:

 

_No signs of Liam._

 

Back at Theo and Artemis, the chimera stops for a moment, bringing a hand to his side as a small amount of pain appears in that area. While he's doing that, the druid is looking around at the trees, stance hard.

"There's someone else in the woods." she voices out.

"What?" Theo gets closer to her.

"Not just one presence; several."

"Could it be more of those creatures?"

She shakes her head, "I'm not sure. But they're getting closer."

"Well, let's not stay and find out."

The reassume their walking. They're barely four steps away from the same spot when Theo catches a familiar scent in the air. He stops, holding out a hand to stop Artemis as well. At feeling a hand around her wrist, the druid stops and turns to look at the chimera. Theo doesn't let go of her as he washes in the warm and familiar scent.

Somewhere else over the woods, Liam was walking as slowly as he could, almost cautiously, claws out at each side of his body. He was having a hard time making his body keep going; he really didn't wanted to be here but he knew they had to stop the creature. It couldn't kill anyone else. Liam wouldn't allow it. He was still thinking about what they would do once they find the creature when he heard a branch snapping and quickly turned around, thinking that maybe it could be Scott or someone from the pack. He turned and a sour smell filled his nose. He scrunched it and then his eyes opened wide as he realized he knew that scent.

The creature appears from behind the trees ahead of Liam; his eyes flashed and he didn't wait for the creature to snarl to start running. He could hear the creature running after him, heavy steps behind but Liam didn't lose time to look behind to see how close it was. He kept running, fighting against the desire to just turn around and fight the son of a bitch but he knew he couldn't. He isn't sure what would happen to the pack if something happened to him.

What would happen to Nolan if he lost both his dads.

Too immersed in his thoughts and worry, he couldn't see where he was running and ended up tripping over some rock; he gasped and went down to the ground, rolling over some dried leafs. He groaned but soon remembered why he was running and quickly got back up on his feet. The creature snarled at him, not stopping running towards him and Liam couldn't make his body move; the fear taking over him.

_"Liam, get down!"_

Your first instinct is to get down when someone yells that to you. Good thing Liam didn't stopped to wonder about that voice and did as he was told. In an instant he was on his stomach on the ground, just as the creature launched at him but it didn't get to touch him as something was thrown at him, setting on fire at the moment it made contact to its skin. The creature snarled and ran away. Liam brought his arms to cover the back of his head and closed his eyes at the screeching wails of the creature in pain.

Once the pained whines grew distant, informing the beta that the creature had ran away, Liam uncovered his head slowly and proceeded to stand on his hands and knees. He let out a relieved sigh and then stood up. As he stood up, he kept his eyes on the ground, but as soon as he was standing straight he raised his head to look at the front and his heart stopped.

Theo was standing opposite to him at a safe distance, his hair disheveled and falling out of places without his gel, and he was wearing the same damn clothes than the last time he saw him. The claw marks and dried blood over his stomach still there and Liam remembered how much blood was pouring out from his wound, and how the venom mixed with it and then he died-

But Liam could hear his heart beating from where he was standing. Was this real? Was his brain playing tricks on him? Did he died too and now was watching _him_?

Liam slowly and fearful opened his mouth but it took him almost a minute for him to actually speak out,

_"Theo?"_

The chimera was standing on the other side, opposite to him, and watching him with a similar expression. In total awe, because he had been so worried once he had caught Liam's scent and as soon as he found him, he was going to be attack by the creature. He would've thrown himself at the creature and fought it if not because Artemis was faster -and smarter- and threw a small bottle at the creature.

They stayed like that, just staring at the other, neither made an attempt to move, fearing that if either moved the spell would be broken and reality would strike them.

Theo didn't even registered he was running towards the beta; he just did. His whole body was screaming at him not to move; it hurt like a bitch. But right now he didn't care if his arms tore open, or if he broke his tendons or something. As soon as his arms wound around Liam he knew that all that pain was manageable and worth it if it meant he was able to hug the beta again. His hands spread out, trying to cover, to touch as much as he can of the beta's back.

And finally after two days Liam can breathe again. It's like if he were having an asthma attack and he just took some puffs from his inhaler: he could breathe again and it didn't hurt to breathe. He never wants to let go of the chimera ever again; he's not sure he'll be able to. He doesn't even realize when he started crying until Theo pulls a little from him to pepper his face with kisses, lips touching every inch of skin he can get as he kisses the tears away.

Liam tries to speak but the goddamn words won't come out! He opens and closes his mouth several times before he bites on his lips to drown a whine wanting to come out. Through tears Liam manages to look at his mate's handsome features and he brings a trembling hand to touch his face like a blind person would do to be able to _'see'_ someone's face; to know they're _real_.

"Y-you were _dead_." it hurts saying those words out loud, "I-I saw you, you-- _Y-your heart stopped_... Your heart stopped." he says in a broken voice.

Theo threads a hand over the beta's hair, gripping tight for a moment before he brings Liam's head over his neck, "It's okay, love... It's working right now."

Liam breathes in his scent and calms down. His human hands claw at the back of the chimera.

A screeching snarl interrupts their moment and the couple turns, still in each other arms, to see the creature standing a few meters away from them, smelling like blood. Probably from the fire that has extinguished by now.

Even still hurt, Theo feels the natural need to protect his mate; he does so by putting Liam behind his body and the beta feels his relief turn into anger sprouting out of his body.

"Like hell you are!"

Theo frowns in confusion, "What?"

Liam proceeds to stand in front of the chimera in a protective mode.

"I'm not gonna lose you again!" he says while his eyes flash at the chimera.

Theo opens his mouth to say something but then the creature snarls again, having their attention. Just as it prepares to launch to them, a loud roar is heard, making the whole woods shake. They turn to see Scott on Alpha mode, eyes bleeding red and fangs out. Peter and Derek ran from both sides of Scott and charge at the creature, eyes blazing as well; they go against the creature, clawing and throwing punches. Malia, Mason, Stiles and Lydia come running from behind Scott. Malia roars again and joins the fight, throwing herself at the creature's back.

Theo has one of Liam's hands clasped in his, and then starts looking around, trying to find Artemis. He finds her a couple of meters away from the fight, looking furiously for something inside her satchel when she finally seems to find it. She turns to look at Derek, Peter and Malia fighting the creature. The abomination throws Peter and Derek to the nearest trees and takes a hold of Malia, throwing her to the ground and making her groan.

"Hold it!" Artemis yells at them.

Not losing time in introductions or explanations, they do what they're told. Peter and Derek hold the creature's arms and Malia roars, jumping into its back once again only this time to sink her claws behind its neck. Artemis turns to the rest of the pack until her eyes fall over Stiles.

" _You!_ Throw what's inside your bag!"

After a moment of confusion, Stiles immediately reacts and turns to Lydia who was carrying a satchel. He practically rips it away from her and starts searching inside for what he knew the dark haired woman was talking about. He takes out a small jar with something electrical blue in it and, taking a step back to get more swing, he throws it to the creature.

At the same time, Artemis throws her satchel to the ground, taking out an empty medium sized jar from inside the satchel; she removes the lid.

The jar Stiles' threw makes contact with the creature and as soon as it is covered by that blue substance, Artemis points the opened jar to the creature and soon wind started blowing around them until it turned into dragging air.

Derek and Peter immediately jump out of the way, the older werewolf grabbing the coyote by the waist and pulling her to safety. Scott kneels a little and so does the rest of the pack behind him. Theo and Liam hold onto each other as the wind keeps blowing.

The creature starts screeching and snarling as its dragged into the jar, trying to use its claws to escape but it was futile. Artemis kept holding the trembling jar as it sucked the creature and in one swift move, the creature got sucked in, disappearing from the sight of everyone. The druid quickly closes the lid.

Once it was over, and they made sure it really was over, they all breathed out in relief. Scott turns to Mason, Stiles and Lydia and asks if they're okay. The three nod.

Peter still had his arm around Malia's waist as they both were over the ground. Derek stands up and offers a hand to his uncle; the other wolf takes it and in return, he helps Malia stand up and soon the pack starts coming back to stand together, except for Liam and Theo. Because of all the ruckus caused by the creature and the fight, they hadn't been able to let the fact that the chimera was alive and standing right there sink.

Theo doesn't know why but he feels kind of awkward being the center of attention- of this kind of attention. Liam, somehow let go of his hand, and the chimera is left standing in front of his pack. Scott and Malia take a step forward, the Alpha looking like he wanted to both cry and laugh with happiness.

Theo just stares back at them before he looks at the were-coyote and notices something on her. He can't help it when a smirk appears over his face,

"Is that my jacket?" he asks in a teasing way.

"Don't be an ass now." and with that she hugs him, her arms going around him and holding him tight. Theo smiles but doesn't say anything when he feels the were-coyote purr slightly against his neck. It's weird how the scent of his jacket and her own scent mingle to create _pack_.

Next is Scott, whose arms feel strong and safe and it's like hugging a father -even though they're the same age; it feels safe. The Alpha breathed out as he pats him with one hand, the other still holding him tight.

Lydia cups his face and pulls him down to kiss his forehead, almost motherly as she does so. All Theo can do is close his eyes at the touch. She soon wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him; the chimera wounds his arms around her waist and hugs her back, one of his hands going to her long, soft hair and threading his fingers in it.

Stiles, wow, it was kind of awkward. The brunet holds his hand to him and Theo raises an eyebrow because _'Really, Stiles? Weren't you sad?'_ but he accepts the hand and the handshake that comes with it. But as soon as he's going to let go and move aside, Stiles pulls him in for a hug. He's pretty strong for a human; Stiles keeps hugging him, swinging a little to the sides as he mutters _'Thank God you're okay.'_ Theo smiles before it turns into a smirk, _'I'm an atheist.'_ followed by _'Shut up, Theo.'_

Right after Stiles, Mason drops the bat to the ground -gaining a complaint from Stiles- and hugs the chimera, chuckling slightly as he says _'Oh, man, it's so good to see you again.'_ Theo chuckles back.

Peter side hugs him and then pats him on the back, his hand resting more time over it than intended. Theo does the same.

Derek even smiles as they hug, patting his back with his broad hands and swinging a little, one of his hands going to the back of the chimera's head and just staying there. Theo could notice that all of them, even the humans, inhaled in his scent.

Once the pack hugs are done, Theo finally turns around to face Liam, who was standing aside like some kind of waiting puppy; he walks until he's standing in front of Liam. His hands find the beta's waist like a magnet, and Liam brings both hands up and cups his face and they stare into each other's eyes.

"Are you real? Is this real? Please tell me I'm not going to wake up screaming and realize you're not there."

Theo rubs comforting circles over the beta's waist, "Trust me; I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Liam nods, closing his eyes as he whispers _'Thank God'_ but he's cut off when Theo pulls him in for a kiss. Liam melts into the kiss; a kiss he thought he would never be able to have ever again. A kiss he missed the past hours. They're getting lost in the passion and love of their kiss that they are kind of mad at Stiles for speaking up,

"Umm, I don't feel like interrupting this beautiful moment but, um, who is she?"

They all turn their attention to Artemis, who hasn't moved from her spot. She picked up her satchel from the ground and is writing something over the jar with a red marker. Some runes probably.

When Theo goes to move towards her, he can feel a growl coming from Liam's chest and he smiles at his mate,

"It's okay. She saved my life. She's the reason I'm here."

That automatically makes the growl die and even his scent changes. Liam looks sheepishly at having growled at the woman who saved his mate's life and now he really wants to bring her home and thank her forever.

But of course it's Scott the one who takes the first step,

"We can't thank you enough for saving our friend and for bringing him back to us. You're a druid, right? If you want to you can join the pack. You are more than welcomed."

She gently bows her head to the Alpha, "I really appreciate the offer, but I'm gonna have to decline. There might be another poor unfortunate soul wandering in these woods an inch away from death. If it's not me, then who's gonna save it?" she added with a smile.

Scott nodded, really wanting to show a way of how thankful he is but knowing that he can't force her to do anything. He takes a step back and clasps his hand with Malia's.

Artemis nods at them but as soon as she's going to turn around, Theo takes a step forward and walks towards her.

"Thank you." he says first, "You have no idea how much I'm thankful for what you did."

Artemis looks from him to behind him at the pack, "Treasure each moment with him, with them." she goes back to look at the chimera with a smile, "We'll meet again, Theo, of that I'm sure."

Theo smiles at her and with a nod, watches as she turns around, securing the strap of her satchel on her shoulder, and walking away. He uses his chimera eyes to watch her disappear into the dark and deep of the woods. As he stands there, he feels someone standing beside him and feels a hand taking his and he instinctively intertwines their fingers. He turns to see Liam looking at him,

"Let's go home."

 

* * *

 

The pack goes back to the Dunbar-Raeken household in the same cars they came back, although Theo and Liam took the chimera's truck that had been in the same spot since the other day. Nobody had been able to go to retrieve it since it still hurt to get near the woods. Since Theo was still a bit wounded, Liam decided that he was driving. They arrived at the house and parked outside, looking up at the moon. It was late, the sun having gone a couple of hours ago.

They reached the door and slowly opening the door they entered the house, barely getting to the living room just as Corey came downstairs. The chameleon was going to get a glass of chocolate milk for Nolan when he stopped in his tracks as he saw the chimera standing with the rest of the pack in the living room. He took some steps forward as his eyes went from Theo to the pack, almost as if asking if this was real. When they all nodded, Corey's face broke into a smile and he jumped into Theo's arms, smiling harder as they hug. The chimera chuckled a little because of the jump but he hugged as hard as the other did.

They separate and Corey's smile still hasn't gone, although his eyes are a little glassy. He bites his lips and moves aside to go to Mason, holding his partner's hand, who kisses it.

Tiny steps could be heard coming downstairs and was followed by Nolan's voice,

"Uncle Corey? Is there any chocolate milk left?"

Nolan stops in the middle of the stairs once he sees the pack and his dads -both of them- in the living room. Liam's heart stops because he was really worried for their son's reaction. Sure, he would be happy that Theo is alive, but he was still getting used to the idea of having to live without the chimera. Everyone holds their breath, not daring to move a muscle.

Theo takes a step forward, followed by Liam behind him until he's standing in front of the stairs, where their son is still in the middle. Nolan goes one step down before staring into the chimera's eyes, almost like if he were looking for something in them. After a moment of complete silence, Nolan opens his mouth and in a soft whisper he asks,

"Papa?"

Theo smiles, his eyes stinging a little as he nods at his son. Nolan doesn't lose time and jumps from the stairs and towards the chimera, jumping with all his strength into Theo's arms and hugging him, tears immediately flowing. He starts crying as Theo's strong arms hold him and swing him softly in a soothing way. Liam moves so he can wrap his arms around his son and husband and the three of them lower to the ground, still holding onto each other.

Once the parade of tears come to an end, and Theo was telling the pack how he met Artemis and how she saved his life, Mason grabs Liam by the wrist and pulls him aside so they can talk without the others hearing.

"Listen, I know this day has been crazier than most of our days but hear me out first, okay? Before you try and bare your fangs at me just listen."

Liam nods.

Mason sighs and takes some air. "I think it's better if we all first spend the night together as pack. You know, we can sleep in the living room because I'm sure we all don't fit in your bed." Liam goes to open his mouth but his best friend stops him, "I know we could do the pack thing another night, and although I don't have a supernatural sense of smell, I'm pretty sure the rest won't be too excited in sleeping next to you and Theo with both of you reeking of sex. And don't try to tell me that you won't do it because I knew that in the moment you saw Theo was alive all you wanted was jump him in the woods, not caring if someone saw you two having sex."

Liam feels a blush appearing over his face.

Mason smiles, "It's okay, man. I'm not judging. I would've felt the same if it had been Corey." he pats him over the shoulder, "That's why I'm telling you: pack first, then he's all yours."

Liam looks over to where the pack is hearing Theo talking, with Nolan over his lap and the seven year-old hiding his face over the chimera's neck.

"Okay."

After a couple of trips to get some pillows and blankets to be more comfortable on the living room floor and fighting for the space because everyone wanted to somehow be close to the chimera -Malia even flashed her eyes at Peter when he said he would take Theo's pillow to sleep, as they didn't have pillows for everyone- at the end they managed to find the perfect position for everyone:

Theo was in the middle of the pack, lying on his back. Liam was pressed against one of his sides, turned so he was using Theo's chest as a pillow and his right hand on top of where the chimera's heart was, almost as if he needed to feel it beating even while sleeping. One of his legs was thrown on top of the chimera's legs, practically hugging him with his body. Nolan was at his left side, curled into himself and pressing against his papa with one hand clutching a part of Theo's shirt. Both of Theo's arms were wrapped around his mate and son, holding them protectively.

Behind Liam were Mason and Corey, spooning the other; Mason's back pressing against the beta's back in some way to maintain the contact.

Scott was right below were Liam was, turned on his side with a pillow under his head and an arm underneath the pillow, at the same time getting a hold of Liam's ankle, his wolf feeling at ease by the contact with his beta. His other hand was stretched and resting over Malia's waist.

Malia was right beside the Alpha, using one of Theo's legs to rest her head -not needing the pillow. It doesn't matter how many times Theo moves his leg because it fell asleep, Malia only frowns in her sleep and clutches the leg tighter, trying to keep it still. She was still wearing Theo's jacket. Peter was on his back, one arm thrown over his eyes and his legs tangled with Malia's.

Behind Nolan were Stiles, Lydia and Derek. Stiles was in a position similar that of Mason's; his back was touching Nolan's slightly, and Lydia was pressed against his front and since he was on his side he was also facing Derek. The Evolved wolf was on his side as well, facing the brunet human and the banshee. He was using one arm as a pillow and his right arm was held forward so it could touch both Lydia and Stiles.

They all slept peacefully and better than in the last two nights because they were finally together, in pack.

 

_"The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love." - Hubert H. Humphrey._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!!! It took me forever to write the chapter but hey, 12K words, cut me some slack! Anyways, I'm glad I finished the chapter today and could upload it :)  
> Yes, Artemis face claim is Katie McGrath ;)  
> The next story will be introducing Gabe's moms, so be prepared!! Thank you for reading!! All your coments make my day better!


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